Number 1

Number 1

We have arrived at the Number One spot. The Gold Medal. The Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown that started on December 13th ends today, on the First of January of 2018. We jump another seventy points from Monolord and their amazing Rust album on Number Two to reach the top position. An album by a band that has made the Number One position every year they released an album. (Well, since 2011) So, they must be doing something absolutely right for all you lovely freaks out there. You gals and guys voted this album to be the best one released this year. As you did back in 2011 and in 2015. Well. There is no need to beat around the bush here, we all know what is coming. The Boston trio released another thrilling album that kept us spinning the record until the needle ran through the groove. Their mixture of psychedelic rock, heavy stoner and epic metal has you soaring through all the marvelous dreams they evoke. The progressive nature of the music they create has them searching for new boundaries every time again. Hence, guest spots were filled during the making of this album and the trio became a quartet or even a quintet. Adding extra guitar, keys and pedal steel to the sound, and adding vibrancy and lushness to a sound that already seemed to have everything. It is riff-awesome, tasty melodic, soulful and catchy metal. But above all, the tectonic tension arcs that we know this band to deliver have evolved into something other worldly. It seems to reflect something completely different and perhaps upside down. So yes, there can be only, and now,  right before everyone around the globe has celebrating the coming of 2018 we present to you the Number One Spot, The Gold Medal according to all the lovely freaks that voted... Here it is... 

Elder - Reflections of a Floating World

The Countdown so far...

The Countdown so far...

Later on, after the clock strikes twelve and 2017 finally ends, we will know what the best album of 2017 is according to 91 of you lovely freaks out there who had the time and energy to send their list to us. We thank you once again, cause without you fellow freaks in the HiVe this could not be possible. It has been a wonderful year for all sorts of heavy music once again, without any question. So, in that respect it was a good year. And it seems the good stuff will keep on coming. 23 of the best albums made the Top 20 Countdown of 2017 but ofcourse you guys voted for many more great albums. And we shall publish the Numbers 21 to a 100 in a few days. And as such we shall post the tardy lists, the personal lists of the HiVe team members and the one album that held the Red Lantarn.  But before we tear up or start professing our love for this or that, let's run though the countdown and prepare for fireworks, a truckload of champagne and the knowledge of who produced the Number 1  album of 2017 according to you voters out there! Thanks everyone and let's all make sure 2018 will become the best year ever!

1 . . . 

2 Monolord – Rust

3 Ufomammut – 8

4 Colour Haze – In Her Garden

5 Causa Sui – Vibraciones Doradas & Kadavar – Rough Times

6 Dopelord – Children of the haze

7 Red Mountains – Slow Wander

8 Sasquatch – Maneuvers

9 Samsara Blues Experiment – One with the Universe

10 Youngblood Supercult – The Great American Death Rattle

11 Mothership – High Strangeness

12 Pallbearer – Heartless

13 Spaceslug – Time Travel Dilemma

14 The Obsessed – Sacred

15 Electric Wizard – Wizard Bloody Wizard

16 The Flying Eyes – Burning Of The Season

17 Purple Hill Witch – Celestial Cemetry

18 Motherslug – The Electric Dunes Of Titan

19 Ruby the Hatchet – Planetary Space Child

20 Radio Moscow – New Beginnings & Royal Thunder – Wick & The Devil And The Almighty Blues – II

Number 2

Number 2

We seriously jump almost a cool hundred points from Ufomammut's 8 album on Number 3 to reach the album that receives The Silver Medal for ending up on the Number 2 spot of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2017. Can you guess which? Of course you can, everybody could. And after this everyone will know which album ended up on the Number One spot. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. For this tasty slab of heaviness deserves every bit of attention. There is no denying the fact they reigned supreme on the Doom Charts for a few months. And their 2014 album ended up on Number 14 of that year's Top 20 Countdown. This one takes all the goodness of that album and the one that came after to new heights. This is Doom of a higher plane. A universe of slow psychedelics and meticulous metal repetition. The sludgy atmosphere surrounding the entire record is perhaps what's most addictive about this band. It's thick, juicy and drenching in its grandiose epicness. Oh, yes, we have to go overboard with the accolades and superlatives again. More leads, even more groove and riffs that immediately nestle themselves in every fiber of your being. They sound large, they sound huge and they seem to get better and better with every album they release. They give themselves no rest and there is no rust to the sonic onslaught that is their thundering signature... The Silver Medal goes to...

Monolord – Rust

Number 3

Number 3

Okay. We all know the deal by now and we can probably all predict two of the three albums that will surely follow. And here's the lowdown. The Top 2 are miles away from the album occupying the Number 3 spot. Twenty points above Colour Haze on Number 4 we find a band I had personally not expected this high. Yes, Numbers 4 and 3 definitely amazed me with the amount of votes they received. Not because I am not completely infatuated with these records, but because (as said before)  the feedback was a little less loud when the records were released. But then again, they made the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown before. Twice in one year even! Back in 2012, they occupied Number 18 & Number 15! And this year, the Italian cosmic doom metal trio delivered another stunning piece of technical sludge, stoner and psychedelic massiveness. Getting more spacey by the minute the albums turns into a sweltering fog and a hypnotic haze quickly. And its definitely not a sleep inducing haze, for the rhythmic kicks and tempo shifts will have you on edge the entire time. Edgy, another word that definitely comes to mind when listening to this album. And by the time the third track rumbles through; you're lost in the heavy swirl and preparing to drown in the immense suction of every riff and groove. Euphoria looms as the eight tracks progress through the entire gamut of grinding riffs and heavenly psychedelics. The Bronze Medal of The Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2017 goes to...

Ufomammut – 8

Number 4

Number 4

We're almost entering the Top 3. But first we jump six points from Kadavar and Causa Sui on Number 5 to reach the fourth position. To be completely honest, I had not expected this album (or Number 3) to reach this position. There is no denying they're both damn good albums. But for some reason the feedback had not been that loud when these albums came out. But hey, this band is awesome, dammit! These cats found their way unto the Number 11 spot of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown back in 2012. And we cannot deny that this record contains 75 minutes of pure unadulterated bliss. More jazzy than its predecessors the album does what the band does best, bring hypnotic jams that are sure to make you dream of that one wild summer of love once again or even fall in love all over again. Or as Tony van Dorston wrote on his insanely amazing Fast N Bulbous: “For the most part, Koglek sticks to what he does best, expansive, jammy psychedelic rock with serpentine guitar lines and sweet, fuzzy tones. The sound seems to have a more up-front live feel, as you can almost imagine the wind sweeping in from the Tyrrhennian Sea onto the sandy hills in Sardinia, Koglek’s favorite place to play via Duna Jam.” Aah yes, wind swept love, strolling together through a luscious field of flowers and burying your head...

Colour Haze - In Her Garden  

Number 5

Number 5

Almost ten points above Dopelord we find two bands! Yes, we passed through the haze on Number 6 to reach two albums provided by two bands who impressed the hell out of all you out there. One instrumental mini-LP that is the culmination of the two works that came before this luscious end of the trilogy. Heavy and loud, yet also peaceful and quiet. This record vibrates on a completely different plane. Its psychedelic nature and krautrock elements surf high on the cosmic highway of fuzz and leave the listener longing for even more jams. And in comes the German trio with a highly different style of heaviness. Their seventies inspired stoner will have you stomping and humping in no time. Psychedelic blues and hard rock trucking! Darker then this albums predecessors the three manage to experiment within their own carved out reality, expanding borders, conquering foreign territories and long forgotten wastelands. Ten tracks that are as tough as they are rough! Yes, surf high on golden vibrations or get as wild as these times call for! On Number 5 we rock out to...

Causa Sui – Vibraciones Doradas

&

Kadavar – Rough Times

Number 6

Number 6

Five points above Red Mountains; which we found on Number 7 we find an album which was released in the first weeks of this horrible year of our Lord 2017. Doom. Metal. Vintage. Seventies. They are all key words here. The six tracks are all doom soaked, sonic wickedness, extremely heavy and completely drenched with a bloody haze. It's a Polish quartet that uses everything classic to produce something that sounds evil, occult and mystical without ever really occupying any of those words totally. For, there is no slaughtering of innocent children here or maidens let to an altar to be sacrificed. No, the mesmerizing and hallucinatory tracks make you envision lizards living inside celestial bodies or filthy priests dancing silly dances. And yes, it will make you ache for even more of that good dope... For dope it is! Really dope!

Dopelord - Children of the haze    

Number 7

Number 7

That was the heavy Sasquatch lumbering around on Number 8. The seven spots that follow were on the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown list from the moment the voting started. Changing positions, almost falling off, but never completely. That some of these albums ended up this high as they did, was a bit of surprise to me. But not for this one. Not to me! For this one, was one of my personal favorites from the moment I heard it. It transported me back to the time driving around Norway for a certain article about cars and the Molde Jazz festival. That was helluva lot of fun! But driving the Atlantic Road with this album on would have been so much better! It shines in all its psychedelic goodness and moves into a slightly darker realm, in regards to their earlier release, without ever becoming oppressive. It actually sounds extremely wide with all the wonderful vistas they evoke. And with so much room for all the instruments and voice to excel, it leaves you breathless. And that is exactly what they do best, that wonderful translation of the  sensation of a massive open expanse into heavy psychedelic rock and making it weave through your head and heart. It is a leisurely majestic, yet urgent trek across a mountains terrain which moves the soul and inspires the spirit at every turn...

Red Mountains – Slow Wander

Number 8

Number 8

The following band is the final band that sort of fell of the Top 20 during the voting process. It is featured eight points above Samsara Blue Experiment, which we found on Number 9. But, Number 8 lies before us and it deserves every bit of attention. And of course this band has made the Top 20 Countdown before. Back in 2010 they reached Third place with their album entitled III. Released back in June, the nine tracks maneuver expertly through all the stoner trucking and desert fuzzing we love so dearly. It is a classic take on modern rock and the other way around. With every record they release the move ever forward towards a more progressive view of the grungy landscape that lays beneath them. Turning their sights on Hammond organs and other musical possibilities. They are slowly turning into real stoner rock aces. Top Gun fighters that know how to make their huge and beastly sound, sound even more animalistic and massive. And this is thanks, paradoxically enough, to their technical prowess and their righteous instinctive feel when to show power or when to pull back on the throttle and let the machine move itself... Ride the sky and feel the groove!

Sasquatch – Maneuvers

Number 9

Number 9

We're going to jump five points now. From Youngblood Supercult on Number 10 to reach the first one digit position of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2017. On Number 9 we find an album that fell off many times as the votes came in for the Countdown. And then on that final day they suddenly picked up steam and passed all those bands that already were featured. It seems it is another album that you either love or hate. We all love the band. There is no doubt about that. But this album did get some harsher critique as their earlier ones. Back in 2010 their album made it to the Number 10 spot. And this 2017 one was already loved by yours truly back when it came out. “It is the result of endless hours of jamming, jamming and jamming after the former bassist left the group. The three of them had to find out where it would lead them and what the new chemistry would be. Well, they’ve gone psycho on the use of analog synths, keyboards and wild effects, while still retaining focus on the fact that even though everything is jam-based, a song has to be written, an adventure has to be taken and a journey has to reach its goal. And you will feel this during the course of every track. Which seem less worldly, a bit heavier and heftier in every aspect, yet every bit as spiritual as their earlier releases. It is yet another exploration one has to join in on. It has the markings of a true quest, the search of something pure and honest.” And it will leave you feeling at one...

Samsara Blues Experiment - One With The Universe

Number 10

Number 10

As we enter the Top 10, we jump almost twenty points this time around. We leave Mothership breathing dust and croaking an ugly cough on Number 11 as we prepare to join this crazy cult! They came out left field and took everyone by surprise. Sure, we enjoyed the hell out of that 2016 album. But I guess nobody expected something this insanely good! Themselves included, so it seems. They must have known they created something wild and wonderful, but they were not prepared for the enormous amount of love to be shown for the album. They galloped high and mighty across the Doom Charts and stayed there for a few months. And rightfully so, for it is a total ripper! As Bucky Brown (from the Ripple Effect) already stated on the Doom Charts: “As expected, the new album is a total ripper. The blues are as heavy as ever, the psych factor overflowing with dusty fuzz, vocals grizzling with dreamy rigor, and mountains of riffs that rattle the stage like a wild mustang bucking through the Americana spirit world.” Right on! Ride on!

Youngblood Supercult - The Great American Death Rattle

Number 11

Number 11

And once again we only jump one measly point from Pallbearer and their Heartless album on Number 12 to reach Number 11. We almost enter the Top 10 of the Top 20 countdown. And I am sure we all agree that every album we passed so far could just as easily have ended up a bit higher and that we are already missing certain albums. Thinking, they must surely have ended up in the Top 10 in that case. Well, this album missed entering the Top 10 by almost twenty points. But nobody missed out on enjoying the hell out of it this year! Released early 2017 it ticks all the right boxes in the absolute right way. It is fuzzy, it is groovy, it is psychy and it is spacey! Riff heavy rock that bounces and pounces as it rides the cosmic highway with such an amazing flow it not just aims for the awesome; but skips many steps to reach legendary proportions. And the only reason they probably did not end up higher, is because their righteous strangeness lasts half an hour... Only half an hour and then the awesome ride is over... And we all could use more and more! Shit, we all want more and more! More! More!

Mothership – High Strangeness

Number 12

Number 12

Exactly one point above Spaceslug's Time Travel Dilemma album that occupied the Number 13 spot we find a massive quartet carrying a casket filled with intense progressive doom metal. They reached Number 4 of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown with their 2014 album. And this year we find them on Number 12. The four freaks are still doom, definitely doom, but have let their love for prog and hardrock shine through ever more. With more space and even better vocals the album masks itself as an instant pleaser. But in truth, it takes a while to grasp every composition completely. It is a grower; and it will probably even age better than many of the albums released this year. It's got all the heaviness you need and so many layers to be discovered it might take another year to really let it all sink in. But we are not inconsiderate or heartless and can therefor truly understand its current spot on the Countdown... Check out the casket full of riffs!

Pallbearer – Heartless